All you need to spin your dreams
The simple art of adding twist to fibers. Spinning. It doesnt seem too hard does it?! And yet for most of us, it is a continual learning curve, once started it seems our discovering is never ‘finished’. For which I am very thankful! It amazes […]
Welcome to the first of my (Suzy’s) Majacraft blogposts! This is my introduction, coming to you from the WoolWench – Suzy Brown studio in Napier New Zealand. Today I would like to share a bit of background about why I am writing this blogpost, as […]
We have built a drum carder. It is called the Fusion Engine and to be honest, I think it is pretty amazing!
It is packed full of features and innovations that make this drum carder incredibly versatile and easy to use.
Many of the design choices are focussed around creating a machine that does not require cleaning. The drums have special edges that minimise the possibility of fibre wrapping around the axles while packing fibre on to the drum right out to the edge. The drums are interchangeable and we will be building drums with different cloth so you can use finer or coarser cloth depending on what you want to do.
It has an integrated gearbox that uses actual gears and these are hidden in the side of the carder. The ratio runs at 8:1 so there is considerably more blending of fibre that goes on compared to machines that run at 3:1 – 4:1. The gears are always positive and will never slip and being integrated into the side of the carder means there is never any clogging of fibre around the drive mechanism.
It has a movable feed tray that you can slide back and forth depending on whether you are working with fine fibre or something a little more raw.
This is just a basic introduction to the Fusion Engine. If you want to discover more, read about it on the Majacraft web site here.
We have the freely downloadable manual for the Fusion Engine which also has plenty of fibre preparation tips 
Suzy Brown of Woolwench has written a review of a pre-production machine on the Fibery Goodness web site and you can find it here.
If you are interested in a Fusion Engine then I suggest you contact your dealer promptly. Orders for the first run of machines are filling fast!
Until next time
Andrew
If you are interested in double heddle weaving on the Dynamic Heddle Loom, we offer some really useful little mounts to support the heddle during the warping of the loom. They have little metal discs so the magnets in the heddle will stick to them […]
One of our new developments with the circular looms is in the packaging. They are now packed on a sheet of cardboard and sealed with plastic. I have also written a basic introductory tutorial to get weavers started which is to be included with all the […]
Over the years we have learned that sometimes people can feel a little intimidated or confused by how to use the tensioning system on the Aura and Overdrive heads. It is really simple to say “oh its easy, just turn that knob”, sometimes the practicality is not so easy to follow. A video however is far superior to demonstrate this and we are exceptionally lucky and grateful to Suzy Brown of Woolwench for putting together this instructional video. If there is anything you are puzzling about with the tensioning, this is likely to help make things much clearer.
It explains in really simple terms the effect of moving the green drive band, the black bobbin drive band and adjusting the black band tension too. I am certain that after watching this, spinners will have much more confidence and control over what they can create.
Thanks Suzy and I hope spinners out there enjoy the video
Until next time
Andy
SALE OF THIS FIBRE HAS SINCE BEEN DISCONTINUED (22/05/2018) We now offer dyed 18.9 micron Merino fibre from the South Island of New Zealand. It is combed top and is very easy to spin. The fibre is hand dyed in small batches and comes in nine […]
Warp speed competition As a celebration of the release of Warp Speed and the coming release of the new 180mm mini circular loom, we have a competition for you. Create a warping pattern using the pattern key and the template presented in Warp Speed, […]
Yes! Warp Speed is ready!
Warp speed is a collaborative tutorial/inspirational/ideas book for weaving on the circular loom It has been put together by Suzy Brown (Woolwench) and myself. We have been working on for quite a few months now and I am now delighted to release it to you.
So, a little bit about it. First off, the best bit, we are giving it away for FREE! So go download it and knock yourself out.
We have also worked to create a way of writing patterns that is easy to understand and replicate yourself. In an effort to come up with more ideas, there is also a template at the back of the book that you can freely print to make your own patterns with. I would encourage you to do this, and share them around. Suzy and I already have ideas for putting together patterns made up by the community to help spread it further (all with the appropriate acknowledgements and so forth 🙂 ). If you read it and think there are shortcomings or additions to the pattern scheme we have come up with, let either of us know and we can edit and add to it. Everybody wins then.
We have also included pictures of many of the inspirational weavings created by people on the Circle Weaving Facebook group. I am really proud of the community that is building in the Circle Weaving group on Facebook and I am getting to live a little vicariously as well :-). They have been enthusiastic with their support of others and generous with their ideas which are shared freely in the group. It is so cool to see people working together to grow the craft. If you are interested, come along and join in!
Here is the link to the document Warp Speed
So go right ahead, download it, share it with others, experiment with some of the ideas and if you are willing, show me what you have made. I would love to see.
Until next time
Andrew
It has been a while since I last put anything up on the blog as I have been very busy in the workshop. Some of the things I cannot talk about yet 🙂 but one I can is related to the circular looms. We have started […]